A friend of mine from Sarawak sent me a Whatsapp message regarding the Jezebel spirit.
Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, was a wicked queen during the Old Testament times. Elijah was the only prophet who courageously confronted Queen Jezebel, and like many of his fellow prophets, Elijah was nearly killed, but God spared his life and later vindicated him.
“King Ahab,” my friend wrote, “was the King of Israel, but it was Queen Jezebel who was controlling her husband.”
Short of naming who he was referring to, the message coming through on my mobile phone was loud and clear: “In Malaysia, we need more prophets like Elijah to pray prophetically as a nation, and as a church.”
This, coming from a Bumiputra pastor in Sarawak, is a good indication that even people in Sabah and Sarawak are now affected by what they see happening to the nation. They were once docile, but now, they have seen enough not to speak up.
Word is, in fact, spreading fast these days by word of mouth. Whereas they were once disconnected from the rest of us in the peninsula, Sabahans and Sarawakians appear to take more interest in the way how the country is currently being administered from Putrajaya.
They are reacting to the news the way we are reacting. Come April 1, many of them would be most badly affected by the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Majority of the people living below the poverty line are based in East Malaysia, and it would be interesting to find out how they will now have to make ends meet.
Even the news about how an UMNO minister had tried to stir up sentiments against the Chinese traders for the price of goods increase, has reached the ears of my Sarawakian friend.
“To me, it is BN which stands for Barang Naik!” he thundered. Many in his church are middle-income wage earners. According to him, the removal of subsidies has already driven prices of goods up, and ordinary Sarawakians are already feeling the pinch.
Anwar’s Jail Sentence
What turned out to be just a Whatsapp discussion became a phone conversation. We went on chatting about the Federal Court’s decision yesterday to jail 67-year-old Anwar Ibrahim for the next five years. This has drawn a lot of attention amongst even the ordinary folks in East Malaysia.
For example, he said a friend of his, YB Baru Bian (state assemblyman for Ba Kelalan) immediately shot a strongly worded press statement titled, “LADY JUSTICE: Sodomised and Abandoned”.
This was carried by an English news portal. “Today, 10 February 2015 will go down in history as the day that the once dignified Lady Justice was raped and left for dead by the Malaysian Judiciary, sacrificed at the altar of political greed and malice,” he wrote.
“Today, many Malaysians despair that our government and judiciary have plummeted into the deepest darkest depths of disgrace and ignominy. Given the facts before the court, reaching a decision such as this is beyond logic and reason.”
Bian may be a politician, and this coming from him, is understandable. However, another word coming from an ordinary Sarawakian man, in his late 50s, baffles the mind.
“They have done this to our Bup Kudus (referring to the Iban Bibles that were confiscated during the raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia), and I am not surprised that they are now doing that to the Opposition leader,” he said.
“Najib has been veering too far right. He is not leading the nation forward as the country’s Prime Minister. Look at how he turned his back on the agreement he signed with the Hindraf, and how he also implemented the 10-point agreement for the churches in East Malaysia with regards to the use of the name Allah in Malay Bibles. Everything came to nought. Do I need to say more?”
Now, even the apex court is not independent and unable to save Anwar from the political conspiracy. This was his conclusion to the phone conversation.
My Own Conclusion
Everybody who followed the news about Anwar’s jail sentence yesterday would have agreed that it was the darkest day for justice and democracy in Malaysia.
But, as someone pointed out, it will not be the end of democracy in the country. As one writer pointed out, “I would not be hasty to write off Anwar Ibrahim. It is not game over and the game is bigger than the players. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail. It is only the beginning…”
With Anwar now in prison, the people’s sentiments are high. Many see this as a political ploy after Sodomy I during former prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s era, failed to put Anwar into prison.
Sodomy II is somewhat a déjà vu, they say. “It is bringing back the Mahathir era which we fought so hard against,” one veteran politician confided. “You can bet that the people will no longer vote the way had voted for Abdullah A. Badawi in 2004.”
Anwar may be in jail, but his spirit is what has captivated the imagination of most Malaysians of all shapes and sizes, who want to live in a country that is progressive and prosperous, away from the gutter politics played by people linked to UMNO using race, religion and royalty.
When Anwar was free, they tried to use a sex video to discredit him. The video clip, only to be found “fake”, and the three high-powered Datuks linked the video were only given a slap on the wrist by the court, was one of the worst fitnah that a Muslim could bring upon his fellow Muslim brother.
The people can now see that Anwar is betrayed by a fellow Malay and a Muslim, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, whom Anwar’s own driver of 32 years, Abdullah Sani, now 55, had claimed that Saiful was never Anwar’s aide in the first place.
"He was just Anwar's former aide Rahimi Osman's friend,” Abdullah was quoted in Malaysiakini. “He (Saiful) followed Rahimi everywhere and always took the opportunity to make it look as though he is close to Anwar.”
Even Saiful’s father was said to have doubts about his own son’s integrity. Now that Anwar is in prison, the question about Saiful’s integrity is being raised again despite the Chief Judge saying that Saiful was a credible witness.
This could have prompted the eminent G25 moderate Malays, who have taken on the media platform to voice their concerns about the state of affairs in the country.
They may be just speaking their minds out, but what they have said makes a lot of sense, especially since this country cannot continue to run on injustices done to another fellow being. Their voices may indeed represent the voices of the silent majority.
Trapped
From what I can see, Najib is now trapped. He has no choice but to veer further right, and possibly see an alliance with PAS or even the Mahathir camp as the only way to fortify his position.
However, should that happen, it would immediately split PAS into two, with one camp following its president, Hadi Awang and another camp working closely with Pakatan.
And, giving in to Mahathir’s camp may only mean an early demise of his own political career. Barely seven years ago, Najib has seen how Abdullah Badawi was forced to vacate the position by Dr Mahathir and he is fighting hard to ward off Mahathir’s missiles.
Given his precarious position and Dr Mahathir firing ‘solid’ bullets at him, and now, Anwar is no longer a threat to Mahathir’s camp, Najib has too much to lose the moment he stepped down. It will not be a do or die with Dr Mahathir.
In the past, Dr Mahathir has seen how a free Anwar was able to steal the people’s heart causing people to revolt against him, especially when Mahathir tried to topple Abdullah Badawi in the run up to the 2008 General Election, but now, with Anwar being thrown into prison, the people lack a leader.
It is public knowledge that Mahathir can now have a freehand with his campaign to remove Najib. By any calculations, Najib would rather have the people divided, than for them to become too strong that he can no longer hold on to the country’s top position.
Going by the media reports on 1MDB, Riza Aziz and Jho Low, when a more united front is led by one of his successor in UMNO, Najib may end up being thrown into prison himself as a scapegoat for all of UMNO’s sins, should he be convicted for corruption or for other trumped up charges.
As these theories were being flaunted, for my few friends from Sarawak, they vow to cast their vote against any party that is linked to Barisan Nasional. “That’s for sure!” concluded one of them.
With Sabah and Sarawak being traditionally the vote bank for BN, it may yet become the next avalanche that we will see in the coming General Election, although Anwar may still be languishing in prison. - MAILBAG
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